After making a couple of trades in the 2024 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions accelerated some of their 2025 draft capital by a year. The Lions and GM Brad Holmes dealt away two 2025 picks as part of trades over the draft weekend.
Most notably, the Lions traded away their third-round pick in 2025 to the New York Jets in order to select British Columbia OL Giovanni Manu with the 126th overall pick near the end of the fourth round of the 2024 draft. That was a straight deal that involved no 2024 draft assets.
The Lions later dealt a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Eagles as part of a package of picks to move up and select Utah RB Sione Vaki at No. 132 overall. Detroit had two fourth-round picks in 2025, and this pick was the one acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in the D’Andre Swift trade right after the 2023 draft. Yes, the Lions traded the Eagles pick back to Philadelphia.
Back at the 2023 NFL trade deadline, the Lions acquired WR Donovan Peoples-Jones from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Detroit’s sixth-round pick in 2025.
Detroit originally had an extra seventh-round pick in 2025 from the ill-fated trade with the Jets for WR Denzel Mims. However, when Mims didn’t even last a month with the Lions, the conditional picks in the deal were negated.
The Lions did pick up a 2025 seventh-round pick from the Dallas Cowboys in the trade to move up and select Terrion Arnold in the first round in 2024.
2025 Lions picks
First round (hopefully No. 32 overall!)
Second round
Fourth round
Fifth round
Sixth round – Buccaneers pick
Seventh round – own pick
Seventh round – Cowboys pick